Hey there followers and subscribers. The Vegan Man has moved to a new domain. After years of posting here I decided to move the site to a new domain as I move forward as a certified Holistic Health Coach and Life Coach. My journey was a long one and part of it lives through these blog posts, but as I moved forward I decided I didn’t want to hid anymore. So I’m no longer operating behind The Vegan Man, but behind my own unique identity. Not to worry though, I’m still vegan (and so are all of my recipes, most are Gluten-Free now too). But having a happy and healthy life isn’t exclusive to vegans, hence the path forward I’ve chosen.

All your favorite recipes from this blog already life on the new site. I made sure that everything was seamless in the transition, you’ll also find a whole bunch of new ones plus some improved user navigation, recipe printing and search features.

You’ll also find great posts and videos on Health & Wellness. I hope you’ll join me over there and continue to enjoy the content and recipes.

CARAMEL. PEANUT. POPCORN. Not sure this recipe needs further introduction but just in case you need some convincing… I made my first batch of caramel peanut popcorn about 7 years ago for a family game night. It was an instant success… In fact whenever we organize game nights this popcorn is requested, or at this point has become a prerequisite. Its easy to munch on while playing games, and doesn’t leave your fingers sticky or greasy, mucking up your playing cards. Plus its vegan and gluten-free to boot.

If the thought of making caramel seems daunting to you, rest assured its really quite simple. Just make sure you have a candy thermometer, which are now available at most kitchen supply stores or department stores. Or of course you could purchase one online.

The process itself goes fairly quickly so make sure to read through the recipe ahead of time and have your ingredients prepped. You don’t want to still be popping your corn kernels when the caramel has already reached the right temperature. It adds unnecessary stress. And stress creates inflammation in the body and causes cortisol levels to rise, and that’s when we make messes… seriously, just prep ahead. Unfortunately I’m speaking from experience.

Keeping the tray of popcorn and peanuts warn in the oven while you prepare the caramel is also extremely helpful. It might seem silly and you may be tempted to skip it, but, it prevents the caramel from hardening too quickly making the mixture easier to stir.

Give it a try, and let me know how you liked it in the comments below. What are you favorite snack foods for game nights?

Caramel Peanut Popcorn

Makes about 9 cups

8 cups air-popped popcorn kernels

2 1/2 cups salted peanuts *See Note

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 cup vegan butter (half of an Earth Balance stick)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 250°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Gently mix the popcorn and peanuts in a large bowl and spread in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Place in the oven to keep warm.

Measure out the vanilla and vinegar into a small bowl and set aside. Do the same for the salt and baking soda, note keep these separate from the vinegar/vanilla to avoid creating a kitchen volcano.

In a medium size pot, combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, and vegan butter. Make sure to use a large enough pot as the mixture will bubble up when the vanilla is added. 6-8 cup capacity should be plenty. Stir over medium-high heat until the butter has melted.

Once melted stop stirring and attach the candy thermometer to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, washing down the sides of the pot occasionally with a little cold water and a pastry brush.

As the mixture approaches 255°F, remove the tray of popcorn from the oven and place on a heat resistant surface. Once the caramel reaches 255°F (just past the soft-ball stage), remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla/vinegar mixture. Stand back as the mixture will bubble. As the bubbling begins to subside quickly whisk in the baking soda and salt. The mixture will lighten and begin to foam up.

Working quickly as the caramel will begin to set, pour ribbons of caramel up and down the sheet of prepared popcorn, distributing it evenly. Using a heat resistant spatula, toss the popcorn and peanut mixture with the caramel coating it as much as possible. (Be careful the caramel is hot).

Transfer the baking sheet back to the oven and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the caramel feels dry. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Transfer to a serving bowl, breaking up any large clusters if desired. Popcorn will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Note: Some brands of peanuts are saltier than others. I often use unsalted peanuts and sprinkle the tray of coated caramel with pink Himalayan salt prior to baking.

It really doesn’t feel like the holidays without eggnog. Whether its for sipping while decorating the tree and blasting Christmas music, toasting at a holiday party, or for gulping down at 3am when you sneak out of bed for the leftover gingerbread cookies (which has never happened by the way).

I used to make traditional eggnog every year prior to going vegan. It was a Martha Stewart recipe (of course) that I had scribbled into my notebook and made faithfully each year serving it in my grandmother’s crystal punch bowl topped with extra whipped cream. If you’re not familiar with what goes into traditional eggnog, besides the booze, let me fill you in. Heavy cream, whole milk, a few cups of sugar, and about a dozen egg yolks… Yup, not exactly vegan, or heart healthy for that matter.

Since going vegan I’ve made a bunch of different recipes over the years. Some with bananas, which were good, but tasted more like a smoothie. Others with almond milk which unfortunately lacked the richness of traditional eggnog in my opinion. The recipe below has become my favorite. Thick and silky from the combination of coconut milk and cashew milk, and not overly sweet while making use of natural sweeteners.

Does it taste like traditional eggnog you ask? Nope, somehow its better. Not just because its healthier and a more compassionate choice (the animals thank you), but it has more depth of flavor. I served it to my guests on Christmas Eve, somewhat reluctantly because I knew there were people who loved eggnog as well as those who despised it. To my surprise it was a huge success, and I got requests from everyone for the recipe as I repeatedly refilled glasses.

The best part, its so ridiculously easy to make. Everything goes into the blender and gets a good whiz. No fussing with egg yolks over a bain marie trying to avoid making scrambled eggs…

*See Notes

**See Notes

Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend on high until completely smooth.

Transfer to a pitcher or carafe and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 3-4 hours.

Serve over ice with a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg.

Notes:

*If your dates are on the drier side (or if you don’t have a high speed blender) you can make them easier to blend by soaking them in hot water for about 20 minutes.

**The amount of rum will really depend on your tastes. I find 6 tablespoons to be perfect for my taste. There is enough for you to notice that its an alcoholic beverage but not enough for an unpleasant burn on the way down or to take away from the other flavors.

Every once and a while I get the urge to play with gluten-free recipes. I don’t actually have any major issues with gluten, but I’ve found that when I over indulge my body makes sure to let me know.

Generally speaking most of the foods I eat throughout the day are naturally gluten-free, but when it comes to baked goods, its often a hit or miss. One of the reasons is I tend to avoid gluten-free baking is the additives and extensive list of ingredients. Personally I don’t like to use xanthan gum in recipes, so gluten-free recipes without eggs usually require a little more work effort. I’ve been playing with recipes for protein brownies over the past couple weeks, the majority included black beans, no sugar, minimal oil, protein powder, and no flour. Needless to say, this isn’t one of those recipes… After weeks of healthy brownies I needed the good stuff!

These don’t pretend to be low-fat, or sugar free. Although you may be able to substitute some if not all the sugar for stevia, I was ok with the sugar seeing as these are a treat and not a staple in my everyday diet. Coconut sugar or evaporated cane juice would also make good sugar substitutes, but if you don’t have either on hand just use regular granulated sugar or brown sugar. Healthy baking is great, but once and a while, you just want the good stuff… Well consider these my compromise, still full of better for you ingredients, but without sacrificing any of the indulgence.

I opted for coconut butter, instead of just plain coconut oil in this recipe for a couple of reasons. the first being I had some leftover in the fridge from a batch I made a while back. The second, is that coconut butter is higher in fiber and protein as it makes use of the coconut flesh as well. The resulting brownies are dense, moist, and extremely fudge-y and rich. I served them for dessert and no one would have guessed they were vegan, even less, gluten-free. Mine were a little pale in color due to my choice of cocoa powder, make sure to use a dark chocolate cocoa powder for a deep brown-almost black brownie.

Gluten-Free Fudge Brownies

Makes 16 brownies (1 9 x 9-inch pan)

3/4 cup coconut butter, melted and cooled

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown rice flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (read the labels to make sure they are dairy and gluten-free)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a metal 9 x 9-inch brownie pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut butter, almond milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add the sugar and cocoa powder, whisking until combined. The mixture will thicken slightly.

Switching to a wooden spoon or spatula, add the brown rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until completely incorporated and no lumps remain. Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan, using the back of the spatula to spread the batter into the corners and smooth the top.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, until the edges have begun pulling away from the sides and the center no longer jiggles. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into 16 squares and serve at room temperature or chilled. Brownies can be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

I made these cute little guys for my godmother’s b-day last week and I was really pleased with the way the recipe turned out so I figured I’d share it. Her favorite cake is strawberry shortcake hence my decision to make a strawberry flavored treat.

Let me tell you these are packed with strawberry goodness. Fresh, chopped strawberries in the cupcakes, strawberry preserves swirled into the buttercream frosting, and of course topped with more fresh strawberries. The berries I used are local and therefore on the smaller side, but incredibly sweet and flavorful. Almonds and almond extract would also make a nice addition to the cupcake and frosting if you choose to go that route. I preferred to keep it simple with vanilla bean paste allowing the strawberries to take center stage.

Layering the strawberry preserves with the buttercream in the piping bag gives these a cute swirl affect which I really like and stole borrowed from a Martha Stewart recipe. If you want a more pronounced swirl you can paint the inside of the piping bag with a line (or two) of red food coloring, but I chose to keep these simple and colorant free. You could also mix the preserves directly into the buttercream to make it a pastel pink. Its only frosting after all, have fun with it. You can also omit the frosting and make strawberry muffins, but somehow that doesn’t seem as much fun…

Place the aquafaba in a small pot and simmer until reduced to approximately 1 and 1/4 cups. Add the sugar to the hot liquid and stir until dissolved. Refrigerate overnight or place in the freezer until completely chilled but not frozen (if you’re tight on time).

For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 standard 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the oil, almond milk, sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and salt. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, or onto a piece of wax/parchment paper sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking soda to ensure they are free of clumps.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries.

Divide the batter among the lined cupcake tins using a tablespoon or large ice cream scoop.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, place the cooled aquafaba mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start on slow and slowly bring the speed up to high. Whisk the mixture on high until stiff glossy peaks form, this may take a couple minutes depending on the speed of your mixer.

Reduce the speed to slow and add in the confections’ sugar. Let the sugar incorporate into the frosting before bringing the speed back up to high (otherwise you’ll wear it). With the mixture running on high begin adding the vegan butter and shortening, one tablespoon or chunk at a time. If the mixture looks like its beginning to split, don’t worry, it’ll come back together.

Once all the butter and shortening have been incorporated, the frosting should be smooth and hold its shape, beat in the vanilla bean paste.

Note: Depending on the temperature of your room and the temperature of the butter you used, you may find the frosting too soft to pipe. If that’s the case, place the bowl in the fridge to chill for 15-30 minutes.

To assemble, strain the strawberry preserves through a fine mesh strainer to remove any fruit solids and seeds, pushing it through with the back of a spoon or spatula.

Fit a pastry bag with a large star or round tip, and set it in a glass to keep it upright while you fill it with frosting. Also a good idea to fold down a couple inches of the side.

Dump the strawberry preserves into the center of your bowl of frosting. Using a large serving spoon or spatula, scoop up the frosting from the center of the bowl outwards so that each scoop has both frosting and preserves, layer into the pastry bag.

Starting from the center of each cupcake make a spiral outwards, to form a rose pattern. you can practice on a piece of parchment paper if you prefer and later return the frosting to the bag.

Top each cupcake with strawberries and serve at room temperature. If you’re not serving them immediately, they can be stored in the fridge. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they’re made, but I won’t lie, I ate left over cupcakes for a few days afterwards and they were still delicious.

Anzac cookies hold fond memories for me. These are the first recipe I made after discovering Heidi Swanson’s blog 101 Cookbooks. Heidi’s blog and books (her books are awesome too) are filled with vegan and vegetarian recipes.

Its ironic as I discovered her blog years before ever going vegan. It wasn’t until a year later that I realized that I could still eat all the recipes I had loved from her books and blog, some requiring only a few tweaks. If you’re curious about Heidi’s recipe for Anzac Cookies, you can click the link the find her recipe which is absolutely divine with subtle notes and aromas of orange. You can also read about the history of Anzac cookies which I won’t even attempt to repeat. People still talk about the distortions I’ve made to historical events as I try and repeat them, history was never my thing. Heidi’s blog is actually what inspired me to start my first blog about 10 years ago (before going vegan and starting this one). I even scoured the depths of the internet searching for a cast iron heart shaped pan to make my cookies look like hers (thank god for ebay). If you choose to bake these in cast iron, you’ll find they can be a little tricky to remove.

A great alternative to non-stick cooking spray for baking is to make a paste of equal parts coconut oil or non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, canola oil, and all purpose flour. Mix all three ingredients together in a jar and apply to cast iron or stoneware molds with a pastry brush. Any used paste can be stored in the fridge for months.

Below is my version of Anzac Cookies, tweaked slightly to make it vegan and remove white sugar. These aren’t very sweet which makes them a nice accompaniment for a cup of coffee or tea in the morning. Not that I would suggest cookies are a good replacement for a healthy breakfast, but these are pretty wholesome, and truth be told, I’ve had worse things for breakfast…

Anzac Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies (depending on the size of the molds)

1 1/4 cups white whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cast iron mold or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup, water, and vanilla extract.

Add the flour, oats, shredded coconut, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda. Stir until combined with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. The dough should hold together without being sticky. If necessary add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Press 2 tablespoons of dough into the cavity of each cookie mold if using, or drop mounds onto the parchment lined baking sheets, flattening slightly.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Cool for about 5 minutes prior to transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days at room temperature.

Often we think that doing things we enjoy is an act of self-care, however it all depends on the circumstances under which we do them. While we may enjoy a glass of wine, coming home from a hectic day at the office and throwing back a couple (or even one), while binge watching Game of Thrones isn’t self care.

So what is self-care, and what isn’t? Based on experience and my own journey, I can tell you that context is everything. People often tell me they take time for themselves daily, and that’s a great start. However they often confuse unhealthy habits that are part of their daily routine as acts of self-care, but more often then not, they aren’t. What do I mean? Let’s say you come home from a busy day at the work (or school, or wherever), you pour yourself a glass of wine and crash on the couch while binge watching Game of Thrones, like in the example above.

Sounds like self-care, right? After-all, you enjoy a good glass of wine, you’re making time for yourself, and you completely hooked into Game of Thrones and the drama of each house and who will take the throne this season. This is where context comes into play. When working with people and discussing healthy habits, one of the first things I always hear is they can’t give up wine, they need their glass of wine at night (or whichever alcoholic beverage they chose). It takes the “edge” off their day. When we resort to alcohol, food, drugs, sex, exercise, and such to take the edge off, or better put – to numb ourselves – these aren’t acts of self-care. The same goes with television and social media, it isn’t quality time with ourselves, its another mechanism to numb and distract ourselves from the distress in our daily lives.

Its no surprise we’re one of the most obese, addicted, in debt, and over medicated populations in history.

In his book DailyLove, Mastin Kipp writes, “every emotion, felt fully, is joy.” Seems pretty odd right? How could pain, or anger, or sadness be joy? I know, I pondered the same thing at first, but stay with me. These emotions themselves aren’t joy, these are constructs of the the ego, but the act of allowing ourselves to feel them so we can heal and come back to love, that’s joy. Don’t be so eager to take the edge off, instead live through it. Dig deep and look at what has you so worked up and stressed out in the first place. I’ll give you a hint, we’re never stressed, upset, or worried for the reason we think, but more about that in another post.

The stress that we are so quick to numb and suppress is a sign that we’ve disconnected from our purpose, that we’ve disconnected from love and spirit (call it God, the Divine, the Universe, Love… don’t stress over the semantics, we’re all talking about the same thing here). Self-care helps us reconnect and strengthen our attitudinal muscles, as Marianne Williamson puts it. But one meditation or yoga class isn’t the be all end all, self-care like everything else is a practice.

I often here people say the don’t have the time for self-care, or how much time do they need to invest in “this.” What I’ve found is that when I make time for self-care, I end up having more time during the rest of my day. A Course in Miracles teaches “the purpose of time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning.” Practicing self-care gives me a sense of peace, an inner calm which I then carry with me throughout my day. When we carry that forth into our day, time becomes abundant. Scarcity is a construct of our ego, time becomes sparse when we buy into the mad ideas of the ego.

Make a commitment to nurture yourself, because when you’re full you can serve in bigger ways than you ever thought possible. Slow down and be present, quite your mind and meditate. Self-care can adopt many forms, which you chose isn’t important. The importance comes in making it a daily practice.

Hoping this post has served you, and if it has I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

Sending you love,
David

]]>https://theveganman.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/practicing-self-care/feed/0davidjamesdipardoFeeling Peachy!https://theveganman.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/feeling-peachy/
https://theveganman.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/feeling-peachy/#commentsFri, 01 Jul 2016 18:54:36 +0000http://theveganman.wordpress.com/?p=671Continue reading →]]>Peaches are by far my favorite summer fruit. There’s nothing like the scent of a fresh, ripe peach, bursting with flavor. My apologies to the rest of the summer fruits, I love you all, but peaches really steal the show. Every year I look forward to that moment when the markets are stocked with baskets of peaches; picked just in time so that they aren’t hard and tart or soft and mushy, but rather that sweet spot right in between.

Well I spotted baskets of peaches at the market a couple weeks ago, surprised by their early appearance, I immediately bought one. Usually I turn to pie when peach season rolls around, but this time I had my heart set on ice cream. After-all there is always a good reason to make ice cream.Turns out there was reason they were early, they weren’t nearly ripe yet.

In my despair I decided to proceed with my ice cream as planned, with one difference, I’d roast the peaches. In the past I would never have thought about roasting fruit for ice cream. But, after a very successful roasted plum-lavender ice cream last year, followed by an even better roasted banana-bourbon ice cream, I figured why not.

The results where heavenly, I’m surprised any made it to the freezer to set. Fresh out of the ice cream maker is was like clouds of sweet creamy peach mouse. The recipe itself is so ridiculously easy, I’m almost embarrassed to share it. There is no cooking aside from the roasting of the peaches, and the whole recipe uses 4 ingredients. Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than that. So with the hot weather upon, should you find yourself with a basket of unripened fruit, go ahead and make some ice cream!

Roasted Peach Ice Cream

Makes 1 quart

4 cups sliced peaches

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

2 tablespoons agave nectar, or maple syrup

Juice of 1 lime

1-14 ounce can coconut milk, full fat

Lightly oil an oven safe dish and preheat your oven to 375°F.

Toss the peach slices with 1 tablespoon of sugar (if using) and spread evenly in the prepared pan. Roast for 40-45 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

In a high speed blender add the cooled peaches, coconut milk, lime juice, and agave. Blend on high until completely smooth, 1-2 minutes depending on the strength of your blender.

Transfer the mixture to the chilled base of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2-4 hours to set completely.

If freezing for a longer period of time, remove from the freezer for 10-15 minutes prior to scooping and serving.

A quick and easy brownie recipe, and pretty versatile to be honest. Having invited my parents over for dinner a couple weeks ago, I was looking for something simple to serve for dessert. Cakes and cupcakes seemed too fussy for the mood I was in.

The meal was simple and I wanted to keep the dessert inline with that. Besides I had already planned on spending half my day at gym, so there really wouldn’t have been time to make a cake and frost it. Not when there was pizza dough to knead and pasta to roll out and dry…

Generally I make my brownies with peanut butter in them. However my mother hates peanut butter baked into sweets. I know, we may have finally found proof that I’m adopted. She’ll only eat peanut butter on toast, or perhaps off a spoon. So every time I’ve made peanut butter swirl brownies or chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, they were never a big hit with her. She does however love turtle chocolates, so I figured I could replace the peanut butter with caramel, and throw in some chopped pecans. Easy Peasy.

You could make the salted caramel I used in the millionaire cake, but I chose to go for something simpler. A two ingredient date caramel. Ridiculously easy to make, and baked nicely into the brownies. I chose to dress them up with some sweet soy cream, a recipe from the Plum Bistro Cookbook, but you could also use coconut whipped cream, or even ice cream.The recipe makes 12 large brownies, a good size to be server as a dessert, or to throw into a lunch box for an afternoon snack. However, if you’re making these to share, you can easily cut them smaller and get 16-20 per pan. The recipe calls for coconut oil, which gives these brownies a firmer texture, especially once chilled. For softer fudge like brownies, swap the coconut oil for equal parts canola oil.

Caramel Swirl Pecan Brownies

Makes 12

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water, room temperature

1 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

For the Caramel:

10-12 medjool dates

2 tablespoons almond butter or peanut butter

Pinch of salt

For the caramel, submerge the dates in hot water and allow to soften for 20 minutes. Drain the dates reserving the soaking water and transfer to a blender. Add the nut butter and a pinch of salt, blend on high until smooth adding the soaking water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture has reached the desired consistency.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line and grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the water, oil, vanilla extract , and sugar. Whisk until smooth.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until smooth and a few traces of the flour mixture remain. Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Add the brownie batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly, pushing the batter into the corners of the pan.

Spoon the caramel onto the brownie batter starting with the corners and finishing in the center. Using a knife swirl the caramel into the brownie batter. Scatter with additional pecans if desired.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes. Allow the pan to cool completely before transferring to the fridge to chill. Once chilled cut the brownies into 12 squares, serve chilled or at room temperate. Cut brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Coming off of the holidays, I’m finding myself with fridges and freezers that are overflowing with produce and left-overs. We had family visiting from out of town and since everyone was leaving the country to be able to return home, no food could be taken with them. So in an effort to reduce some of the produce on-hand before it spoils I decided to bake up a loaf with some of the extras in fridge.

I ended up with half a bag of leftover cranberries in the fridge seeing as the recipe I made for Christmas only called for a cup… Add that to the left over oranges and apples and this loaf came together rather quickly and with wholesome ingredients to boot. January has struck and the gyms are being filled with New Year Resolutionists determined to make this year the year they get fit and healthy. If you’re one of them, as am I, this is a healthy recipe you can feel good about without throwing your new healthy eating habits in the pooper. A good afternoon snack to bring with you to the office, or to treat yourself after a good workout. I’m sure I’ll be having some tonight after yoga… maybe before too…

This loaf is low in fat, and made with better for you coconut oil. The white sugar is substituted with maple syrup, orange juice, and the natural sweetness of grated apples. I used a combination of both empire and granny smith because that’s what I had, but any combination would work. This is also a “one bowl” recipe, so clean up is pretty minimal.

Once you’ve baked the loaf, resist all temptation to cut slices off while its still warm. The texture of quick breads improves greatly once they’ve cooled, especially breads which are free of wheat which can sometimes be rather delicate.

Cranberry Orange Loaf

Makes 1 loaf

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk, or other non-dairy milk

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Zest of one orange, finely grated

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup grated apple, firmly packed (about 2 medium apples)

3/4 cup grated carrot, firmly packed (about 1 medium carrot)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups spelt flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl stir together the cashew milk and ground flax seeds, set aside while you grate the apples and carrots.

Add the grated carrots and apples to the cashew milk mixture along with the coconut oil, maple syrup, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Add the oats, spelt flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in the dry ingredients with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the cranberries.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and smooth the top. The batter will be quite thick. Top with a sprinkle of oats and cranberries if desired.

Bake for 45-48 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

The loaf can be kept at room temperature for 4 days in a airtight container or frozen for up to a month.